At least 18 people, including six Indian nationals, were killed and 20 others injured in an attack by the Taliban on an Indian construction company in Afghanistan, a Pakistani TV news channel reported on Friday.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack carried out last night in Paktia province, Dawn News said.

An unnamed Afghan Taliban spokesman was quoted by the channel as saying that Indian, Afghan and African nationals were among the 18 killed in the assault.

Dawn News also quoted police in Paktia as saying that six Indian workers and 10 Taliban were killed in the attack.

There was no official confirmation of the incident.

The channel aired a video of the attack that it said was provided by the Taliban. The grainy footage featured several men armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers firing at a target that was not shown.

The low-resolution footage also showed an explosion and flames erupting as the men continued firing.

The Taliban spokesman purportedly told the channel that the Indian firm, described as the subsidiary of an American company, was attacked because it was a "centre of anti-Islamic activities". The firm was building a USAID-funded road between Khost and Paktia provinces.

The Taliban also reportedly distributed pamphlets in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, which warned the militants would carry out more attacks on Indian firms "involved in anti-Islamic activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the channel said.

This is totally inhuman and barbaric attack on Indian and as well as Afghan and African nationals who were engaging in the infrastructure development in the poor war ravaged country, taking into the fact that taliban sees India as their enemy, and the life of the Indians residing in Afghanistan is always danger, these cowards have no courage to fight trained army face to face but only to attack and kill innocent construction worker. It is yet another gruesome incident of murder of Indian Nationals by Taliban.

I pray to the Almighty that soul of the victims may rest in peace and give the strength to the family of the victims to overcome the period of trauma and hardship.

guys hold on for some time and let there be a confirmation coming in from the GoI, let us not fall prey to some senseless sensationalism from some pakistani media group.

as per TimesNow, highly placed govt sources have refuted any such claim, and quite clearly if there is an attack then government would not let this be a bygone for sure so hold on to your horses and let there be an official confirmation.

hoping for the best that none like that happened. cheers!

PS: the thread stands locked till this incident gets confirmed by the GoI

NEW DELHI, July 11 (Xinhua) -- India Saturday refuted claims of a Taliban attack on its citizens in Afghanistan, saying such a media report is "baseless".

"No Indian was killed in any attack anywhere in Afghanistan. The report is baseless. We checked up and found that this report is untrue," Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Praneet Kaur told the media.

Pakistan's Dawn News TV channel last night claimed that six Indians were among 18 killed in a terror attack by Taliban in Paktia province of Afghanistan.